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It’s a mystery that has gripped Australia – and kept millions of podcast listeners hooked. But the truth behind the disappearance of Marion Barter may lie closer to home, investigators believe.

On August 1, 1997, the former teacher spoke to her daughter, Sally Leydon, Down Under from a phone box she said was in Tunbridge Wells.

But the call from the 51-year-old ended when she ran out of coins. It was the last time Sally, pictured below, or her family spoke to her and she was never seen again.

Despite records showing her passport arrived back in Brisbane the next day, the long flight time would make the journey from Tunbridge Wells impossible.

Years later, the makers of an Australian podcast have linked Marion to a convicted conman now living there as Ric Blum.

The development triggered a new police probe and an Australian inquest into her presumed death has been adjourned to May.

Now British researcher Kristina Panter, who teamed up with Sally after listening to the podcast, is appealing for anyone who may have known anything about Blum while he was here, or who saw Marion, to come forward.

Blum, 83, denied knowing Marion when first approached by reporters in 2019 after he was linked to her through a 1994 lonely hearts advert he placed under a false name.

But under oath at the inquest last year, he admitted to a four-month affair with her which he claims ended just before she flew to the UK. The court heard Blum has previously faced claims of defrauding women, of using multiple names and of having fraud convictions in Belgium and France in the 1960s and 1970s.

The inquest heard flight records showed he travelled to Europe five days before Marion and returned to Australia on July 31, two days before her recorded return. Significant amounts of cash were taken from her bank account in New South Wales in August and September. Her Medicare card was also used.

The inquest heard Blum had been asked by New South Wales police if he killed Marion or knows what happened to her. He categorically denied this or having any contact after the affair.

Mrs Panter, 41, from Midhurst, West Sussex, believes he could shed light on what happened.

She said: “Ric Blum knew the UK well, or at least parts of it. He, his wife and children lived in Burwash, East Sussex, for some time between 1983 and 1985.

“He often travelled to and from Europe, regularly changing his name and passports.

“We know Marion was in the Tunbridge Wells area and other parts of East Sussex and Kent.”

Marion, who had three failed marriages behind her, had been a popular primary school teacher.

In March 1997 she left her job, sold her house, announced the trip, and became unusually secretive.

The mystery of her disappearance has gripped Australia and Belgium, where Blum was born, with more than 15 million downloads of podcast The Lady Vanishes.

Marion was reported missing on October 22, 1997, when she failed to contact her son Owen on his 23rd birthday. But police closed the case saying she just wanted a new life.

In 2011, Sally pestered a senior detective in Byron Bay into reopening the case, but he soon closed it after establishing she changed her name in May 1997.

Her unusual new identity – Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel – was the one she used to fly under.

Another amateur sleuth linked the surname to a 1994 lonely hearts advert in an Australian newspaper.

It was placed by Fernand Remakel, 47, who was seeking a permanent relationship or marriage.

The phone was connected to Frederick De Hedervary in Australia, found to be one of around 30 aliases used by Blum.

The unsolved homicide unit at NSW Police began to seriously investigate Marion’s disappearance.

They found Blum, now living in Australia with his wife of nearly 50 years, had an expired Queensland driver’s licence in the name of Fernand Remakel.

The inquest heard in the 1980s he had a relationship with one woman when he took the identity of her ex-husband Fernand Remakel.

Two women gave evidence saying since the 1990s Blum met them and offered them a new life, only to try to defraud them of money.

Mrs Panter said: “I offered to look at places Marion had visited, tracing staff from shops and hotels in 1997.”

Along with Sally, she contacted Kent Police, but a spokesman said the National Crime Agency was liaising with officers in Australia.

The NCA did not respond to requests for comment.

An Interpol missing person yellow notice remains live under Marion’s new name.

Mrs Panter added: “Sally has been fighting for 25 years to try to find her mother and get answers. There may also be other people who knew Blum that we don’t yet know about.”

• If you knew Blum or met Marion contact [email protected]

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